CHS gets state backing for $33M facility

A proposed 66-bed psychiatric-care facility that spawned nasty exchanges between Mecklenburg County officials and Carolinas HealthCare System has won state approval.

The roughly $33 million, 71,700-square-foot project would be built on CHS-owned land near Huntersville Oaks nursing home. Earlier this year, CHS said it planned for the facility to open in the summer of 2013.

The construction manager is Robins & Morton. Construction is expected to start next year.

This year, plans for the facility put CHS and the county at odds, leading to lawsuits and the county ending its contract with CHS.